Whitdel Arts will be hosting a reception for our next exhibition on May 17th. The show features local artists Jay Knapp and Kathy Rose Pizzo in our main gallery and visiting artist Michelle Matson in our emerging artist space. Below is more information about the show. Please share this with your readers if you feel they would be interested in attending.
Main Gallery: Knapp/Pizzo Exhibition
[WA] emergence gallery: Michelle Matson
Reception: Friday, May 17, 7:00-10:00 pm
Exhibition dates: May 17-June 15, 2013
Whitdel Arts is pleased to announce that it will be hosting the artwork of two local Detroit artists, Jay Knapp and Kathy Rose Pizzo. Loosely joined by the motif of “clouds,” yet psychologically distant in terms of personal and social meaning, the Knapp/Pizzo exhibition promises to give us all some new perspective to consider.
In this latest exhibition, Knapp expands his acclaimed body of work, “Nest and Shells with Skirts and Bells,” incorporating photographs that both contrast and reinforce his viewpoint. The photographs, mostly of darkened houses on night-shrouded, sleeping suburban streets, are forcefully framed and nearly monochromatic views into the privacy-laden enclaves. Knapp emphasizes the paranoia of these communities with new photographic techniques that show the viewer the actual “view through the camera” so they become as much of an interloper as Knapp himself. With these new images, Knapp’s work continues to disassemble the American view of safety in the common society, showing how those things which we fear keep us safe, and those things we think grant us peace and security are perhaps some of our greatest vulnerabilities.
Pizzo’s work explores the notion of memory, and questions how much awareness we have around memory and its formation. Her sculptures are predominately abstract in nature, and incorporate building materials such as scaffolding that represent stages and supports in building and renovation. Her hand sewn and stuffed fabrics are cloud-like forms that are representative of Pizzo’s interpretation of inflated memories we keep alive in a myriad of ways. Inspiration from past memories, as well as experiences and thoughts relevant to outward expression, and inward reflection, all have a part in how she chooses to fashion the materials. Her method of additive sculpture parallels the mind’s ability to design endless constructs, while the cloud-like, stuffed cotton shapes are based on the memories that are abstracted. For Pizzo, the mind’s memory is reinforced through repetition, and her sculptural process is a perfect reflection of her concept. Her chosen method of hand stitching creates a ritual that reinforces her “thought forms” which are then symbolically stuffed with past experiences, and stored amid her elaborate scaffolds.
In our emerging artist gallery, Whitdel Arts will present a solo exhibition by New York-based artist, Michelle Matson. Created while in-residence with Spread Art x Playground Detroit, this new body of work explores systems of humor, social, and sexual themes. The intricate sculptures featured in this exhibition combine facsimiles of common everyday objects and figures into darkly humorous, sexually charged, dream-like totems and tableaux. Visit www.playgrounddetroit.com and www.spreadart.org for more information about these organizations.
The exhibition will run from May 17-June 15, 2013. This event is free and open to the public. All ages welcome. Open gallery hours are Saturdays during exhibitions, noon-3pm, or by appointment. For more information, e-mail Danielle Todd at danielle@whitdelarts.com. For a full schedule of exhibitions and events at Whitdel Arts, please visit www.whitdelarts.com
A division of CAID, Whitdel Arts is an 1800 sq. ft. professional exhibition space that showcases the work of local and international established and emerging artists. Whitdel Arts is located at 1250 Hubbard Street, Suite B1, Detroit MI 48209. Whitdel Arts is also located on the web at www.whitdelarts.com.
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